Trump to continue supporting Afghanistan

Aug 22, Washington DC: The US President Donald Trump, stated today that he will continue supporting Afghanistan as a hasty US withdrawal from Afghanistan will leave a vacuum for terrorists to fill.

According to him, his original instinct was to pull US forces out, but had instead decided to stay and "fight to win" - avoiding the mistakes made in Iraq.

He said he wanted to shift from a time-based approach in Afghanistan to one based on conditions on the ground and said he would not set out deadlines.However, the US president warned it was not a "blank cheque".

"America will work with the Afghan government, so long as we see commitment and progress," he said. Taliban letter to Trump urges withdrawal. Mr Trump also warned Pakistan that the US would no longer tolerate the country offering "safe havens" to extremists, saying the country had "much to lose" if it did not side with the Americans.

"We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars - at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump made it clear he expects his existing allies to support him in his new strategy, telling them he wanted them to raise their countries' contributions "in line with our own".US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis indicated in a statement "several" US allies had already "committed to increasing their troop numbers".